This week is the first full week of classes for the new session for me. Two classes Monday evening, a lovely, cool and sun shiny 12 kilometre walk on Tuesday morning, and two classes Tuesday evening brought pain to my apparently not as in shape as I thought body by Wednesday am.
Once before, about 2 years ago, after sitting in a mini-van for a drive to and from Toronto for a family event, I experienced sciatica. Caused by many different possible actions, but I am guessing that time it was caused by the extended sitting, it actually took over a month to really go away.
So, here I am again, with the same symptoms wreaking havoc and preventing me from adequately torturing my students last night – but they were all doing really well even if I could only poke and prod at them for certain moves!
I am supposed to be on the couch or in bed, as last night’s sleep did help immensely. And I am sure that the exercise I did get in class helped too. I’ll get there very shortly, but I felt like sharing.
Take care of yourselves, get plenty of varied exercise, but don’t push so hard that you hurt yourself!
My thanks to Vashti and Erika for being able to come out and join me at the Bay, Bayshore!
We performed as part of the entertainment between fashion show sets during the Live Artfully Funky Fashion show.
Performing at these events can be approached from a few viewpoints, but really adaptability is what is needed. That and professionalism! And these ladies were great for both!
Actually most of my Belly Dancing For Fun Dancers have behaved professionally and been flexible – that’s why I choose to work with them!
We arrived with the barest of information – only having been able to confirm the evening before what length of time our show was going to be. So, dropping from 15 minutes that included a few solos, to 5 minutes, of short and sweet intermission time dancing was not so bad.
Note: Sometimes organizers forget that the performers actually need to know what is going on, other than be there on this date for this time! We were not the only performers in the event and I think the others were given the same kind of haphazard information. What matters is how you deal with it – I don’t want to train this organizer that it is okay to wreak havoc by not giving out pertinent information, but I also want her to know that we can work with last minute changes to the plan in a friendly and self-sufficient way.
We knew where to meet, and that our contact would arrive to take us to the changing room when she passed by – she was dealing with a lot so no worries there. I always try to imagine the worst case, and in many situations it involves stepping around a corner and dropping the cover up and placing our stuff near the dj booth or backstage – out of the way, but handy. Fortunately, she arrived and we headed off with her so that final costume adjustments could be dealt with!
When we got there , we found the main stage quickly enough so before even seeing our contact, we met the Dj. I gave him our cd, so that was taken care of – I try to always make sure I talk to the dj directly if I can. The few times that someone else has offered to take the cd to the dj has seemed to go badly, so lesson learned.
We were told to come out when we were ready, so that meant we would use our veils as cover-ups for the few minutes that we would be waiting for our time on stage. That gave us a bit more time to see how the crowd was filling up and decide on a “game plan”.
With no advance knowledge of the staging area for events, it is not worth trying to establish much of an advance plan. You brainstorm when you get there and be creative and flexible, assuming that if one of the group forgets, everyone keeps smiling and works it out somehow!
The plan worked perfectly! Three dancers: Vashti with her large veil up on the catwalk first with Erika and I worked our large veils while off on the sidelines amongst the crowd, ready to be cued up. Then Erika took the catwalk and showed off her double veils [ I assume from the Veiled Eye] at the time in the music when she knew would work for them. Then she cued me up and I was able to play up the taxim and have some fun!
And then I invited them back onto the catwalk with me, sans veils and we all were able to improvise, switching places as we danced, taking turns at the front, and playing with the crowd!
It was fun, short and sweet, and a great experience! I even had one of the audience chase after us as we were off and done to find out where she could take classes! Her kind words included how she was sitting with her Lebanese friends and they were very impressed with my dancing – always a bonus for the ego!
We had time to head back stage, get some quick shots and then change into regular clothes as WTL and I were heading off to a wedding east of Ottawa. I love the fast and furious shows – you get ready, dance and go!
And the video clip![youtube=http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iHmbIcEphgo]
I have been having a fun week. Fun in the sarcastic, OMG, what else would the universe like to send me. But, intermingled within moments of clarity, FUN!, in the, wow, what a great person! or, what a gorgeous day for a walk! or what, you are giving away muffins on the street corner? [ This happened in front of a little cafe in centretown as the end of the day was fast approaching, so rather than throw out their last dozen pastries, they sent out a guy with a trya, and gave them to passers-by! See, what FUN!]
I choose to take on sewing work based on how “fun” it sounds. Well, most of the time. I also choose to take on larger jobs that I know will give me a bit of challenge, but I’ll make some cash and get really rolling on that savings plan/emergency fund/ holiday bonus.
I choose dance gigs based on what kind of energy I get from the person booking, what kind of return I’ll get on the investment of time and energy [ they are not all paid, some are promos, some are volunteer/charity, some are paid handsomely].
And then I make work for myself. I am at the beginning stages of developing a small line of products [ more about this gradually will be revealed as I feel it is the right time to do so!]. I am working on planning two events for this fall/winter, that have both offered up new challenges. Even though both the Dancers’ Bazaar and the Ottawa Centre Class Party are events that I have organized for years now, and have been at the same locations for 5 years – Bazar, and 2 parties – OCCP, both threw little loops of fun at me this fall.
I know that things change, and we must learn to adapt in order to keep growing as people, but geez! And if you subscribe to the power of mind over matter, am I creating these realities myself? Was I bored? Did I feel it was too easy? If so, I need to get a grip on my reality and smack it around a bit!
Fortunately, I do honestly believe that “the Universe always takes care of me” deep within my core being. But. unfortunately, another of my core beliefs has been that you have to work to achieve things – if it comes too easily, you don’t “deserve” it. Maybe I am creating my own reality, with it’s bumps and lumps, to keep me thinking that I am working hard enough to overcome these challenges in order to get what I deserve!
Again, if so, some smacking around is due! Won’t that be FUN ?!?
I am looking forward to these events and whatever they bring to my life, along with the many projects I have in the works – for my own business line, for my clients, for my students.
I am blessed with a fabulous husband, a lot of really great friends – really great friends – and enthusiastic students who always remind me of the joy of learning! And teachers who come in all shapes and sizes, who remind me of the way I want to be/act/exist, and those who remind me of how I do not want to be/act/exist.
Thanks to you all for the roles you play in this fun life of mine!
And thanks to me, for being the fruity character that i have become, with a lot of help along the way, and here’s hoping the Fun continues for a long time!
We’ve been back a little while now, and WTL has been going through the pictures from our trip. I think he is on day three of editing, sorting and tilting his head since he won’t waste time rotating the pics while in this preliminary stage.
Boing is not pleased to be back. While she found it cold camping at times, she always had fresh air, shade or sun at her disposable [ 11 straight days of sunshine can spoil a little dog], and her camping chair always had a blanket on it ready to warm her as needed.
She also found the canoe trips were fabulous, even to the point of relaxing au centre behind me on the last trip we did.
We have come home to her being forced inside most of the day, and a new neighbour for her to bark at: a ground hog has taken up residence in a wood pile beside the building. And it runs across the yard just out of her reach, and drives her crazy. Guess we’ll let the landlord know one of these days!
And back to the pictures – yes, we’ll get them up on Flickr soon. Then I’ll post again, and WTL will post as well and you can all click through them merrily!
Twas the Year of the Heron up at Pog this summer – many spottings of two different Herons, and some fabulous pics. We also saw a fair number of dragon flies, a bat, a baby bear, and many, many dogs. Most on leash, and most set up as dog alarms that would go off as soon as anyone walked past their site.
Oh yes, and I have gone through the Eco-Survey responses to date. I will leave it open for more responses until the end of this week and announce the winners on Monday the 8th. If you have not take the time to fill in your own responses, feel free!
Okay, the posters have been all over town for months, various online newsletters and entertainment sites have forewarned you – Did you get a ticket? Did Ya?
If you want to read anything bad about the show, the worst part was that I could not clearly understand the “ensemble” songs – when 10 people or more are combining voices to create amazing harmonies and powerful vocal energies, the lyrics would get lost amongst it all. The rest of this post = “fangirl time”!
So, I had taken a phone pic of the stage set up while waiting – and then I managed to delete it – so I’ll describe it. The curtain is a large map of the Land of Oz, like you would find in a fantasy book, hand drawn with each area indicated and the central focus is, of course, the Emerald City, all sparkly with green lights glittering. Above this is a huge dragon, nestled on the top of the map, overseeing it all, and us!
The show opens with the “ensemble cast” power singing, then the lovely Glinda singing in the most blonde and bubbly voice you have ever heard! Since I really don’t want to give away anything – I loved going with no foreknowledge of what to expect other than having listened to the audio book, Wicked, by Gregory Maguire – I don’t want to spoil it for any of you.
– costumes: inspired! Reminiscent of the movie, Wizard of Oz, but really that was just a hint of a direction that was then expanded upon beautifully. I suspect there will be a lot of new characters gracing the Gathering, this coming October!
-Singing: Elphaba – blew me away. Glinda, also amazingly accurate to character!
– Monkeys: pretty good, though not quite as notable as the imps in Dracula from a few years back.
-the Wizard – hmm, I am torn here. I found I immediately disliked him, but perhaps that was because he did a good job, the character being one that could go either way.
– Orchestra – great – although once in a while it did drown out the singing briefly – again making it difficult for me to understand all lyrics – but this is my obsession, so it may not matter to others quite as much.
Anyway, I am not the only person who saw it last night – the place was full. Men, women, and teenage girls – and everyone had a great time.
My New T-Shirt – with some additions by me 🙂
made for kids maybe?
I Defy Gravity
Reminder that Row A in the Balcony is a good seat if you have no fear of heights.
So, did you go? Are you going? Post some comments and share your thoughts!
Okay, I am almost grounded again, but still a bit heady – I suspect I will need to lie down for a while before heading out to see Wicked tonight, but I wanted to let everyone know about my treatment today. A bit of a review/recommendation and general interest sharing. And as G. pointed out when we ran into each other in the waiting room of the MacLaren Centre, ” I never read anything about this kind of thing in your blog” – so here it is!
Why have I not written about my healing treatments that I get? Because in the summer <sniff> I don’t get them! I don’t have time when I am making wedding dresses. I don’t have time in the spring when I am planning the end of year party and organizing students to perform. It’s all very sad…well, not really!
When I do have a break – like this week, while I am on holidays from my two businesses – I am able to take advantage of the many connections/colleagues and friends who do provide a variety of wonderful healing/energy services. Today’s treat for me was with my good friend, Julie Tierney, colleague in belly dance, and talented and intuitive healer of a variety of modalities { reflexology, reiki, massage and her latest find, ion cleansing aqua foot treatment}.
The idea: Sit in a comfy chair with an elastic wrist band that holds a little metal bit against your arm and stick your feet in a basic of water that has a black doodad in it that is connected to a little machine on the table called “ion cleanse”. Images of Keanu Reeves in Constantine aside, it is quite a relaxing experience. I was booked for the foot treatment and a bonus reiki treatment while I was percolating, uh, relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed both!
As Julie was giving the treatment, she would tell me of images,etc. she was receiving as she went along. All very interesting and most were very attuned with what I had been mulling over in my head on my walk over. I have always been open to “receiving messages” as a means to help me process whatever is on my mind, or remind me of things that I may have forgotten in my mundane activities, so it was a real treat.
I am also very quickly taken into a place of buzzy/heady/energetic relaxation, so once the treatment was finished – about 30 minutes plus some time to settle back into the feet etc. – I was still pretty funky for the walk home. Kinda dreamy, kind of out of it – but not dangerously so – just floating…
If you have a chance to give it a try, even if you are skeptical about the science of it { I can say nothing about that, not having looked into it at all}, the relaxation alone is enough to make it worthwhile. The gross colour change in the water, and bizarre floating things, well, Whatever! If it pulled particles out of my body through my feet, and they coagulate into visible remnants in the water, cool. If it is something else, no worries, it was a great experience anyway!
We had a mid-range package that got us a fair amount of Star Trek and home decorating shows – both of which contributed to major distractions throughout our work days. As we are both self-employed and have our offices at home, it was easy for us to lose a lot of time caught up in these shows. We realized that it was a problem!
So, we cut our cable, and moved into the realm of purchasing DVDs. We would do our best to stick to ones on sale or older ones with the occasional splurge. Soon we had to move our book shelves into the bedroom and pick up 3 DVD shelves from IKEA. When we filled those immediately, [ really, we bought the shelves and loaded them up with the DVDs we already owned, and had no more room! ] we bought two more. I just bought another one that will be assembled this week, as more DVDs are piled up on the filing cabinet!! This collection provides endless background noise while I sew and a great way to crash at the end of the day for both of us. We like to re-watch our faves, so, no worries.
Then I started to miss television. WTL mentioned in passing one day a few months ago that CTV is offering some of its more popular shows online and I was immediately drawn into watching entire seasons online, legally, for free, yay! Highly recommended!
But sometimes you need something new, independently created and just fun to watch.
Welcome to the internet, youtube, itunes, and so much more!
I have been enjoying a plethora of online productions with my hubby for the past few years. Quick and fun or long and informative, we have a fabulous 30 minute or so break at lunch and are entertained by the creativity that abounds online. Yes, there is a lot of crap, and there are a lot more shows that just the ones that we have found. We’ll keep finding more as we go along, but I thought I would compile a short list of the present faves that we subscribe to, have purchased where applicable, and encourage you to enjoy!
Ted: Ideas Worth Sharing – Highly informative and stimulating, covering topics of all sorts – and there are a lot of talks to watch!
And that’s only the beginning! WTL will probably create his own Blog post at some point, adding to the list as he does listen to more CBC podcasts and Tech and Geek oreinted news – and there are loads of those out there!
So, along with reading my wonderful blog, I hope you check out some of these shows and expand your internet horizons!
So, we are starting to contemplate the idea of actually making our meals at home again! Too much “take out food” when we get busy, and the grocery store barely sees us!
So, I was hungry and it was late and so I looked in the cupboard and fridge and found some bits and pieces to assemble into what was actually a fabulous little meal!
Here’s the recipe – until it gets posted onto www.vegweb.com!
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup corn, frozen or canned
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 small jalepeno, chopped
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a bit of oil in a large skillet and toss everything into it.
Let it cook, stirring occasionally, while you make up some rice/couscous/quinoa etc. as a side dish – approximately 20 minutes.
I have some plans in the works for some fun ways to do your part in helping reduce the amount of crap we all put into the garbage/landfill etc.
I was reading some of the blogs I subscribe to myself, and was inspired to do a quick search on glass water bottles here in Canada. While checking out the sites proffered up by Google, I came across LIfeWithoutPlastic.com – and was pleased to see it is a local business ( Wakefield, Quebec) looking to also help reduce the garbage we produce.
I wanted to take a moment to mention it and then go back to their site – I think I have an order to place! They take PAYPAL 🙂
UPDATE- July 31, 2008:
2 layers of stainless steel fun!
On July 28th, I posted this blogpost and placed my order for this set. It arrived today! YAY!
$37.00 total, included shipping and handling, and GST, and fast and friendly service!
Now to figure out what I’ll take for lunch tomorrow!
